It's Mardi Gras Day - Fat Tuesday - March 5th 2019:
Last night (Lundi Gras), my wife and I brought my 7y/o daughter to the Metairie parade. Before we get into that, let me explain a bit of history.
Metairie Louisiana during Mardi Gras is well-known for it's "family" type atmosphere when being compared to New Orleans. It's a suburb of NOLA so it's known for being tame in comparison to say Bourbon St. Yes, uptown New Orleans parades are very family friendly but Metairie is just known for a more tame experience.
Last night (Monday 3/4/19 or Lundi Gras) we went to the Athena parade followed by Pandora parade. These were both re-scheduled parades due to bad weather during the originally scheduled day/time of Saturday 3/2/19. Athena was a predominately "black" krewe (as is Zulu) and Pandora a predominately "white" Krewe - both are a female krewe. Athena started first. We chose our spot, got comfortable and let the parade begin. Immediately to our left of the barracade was a black family (seemingly an early 30's mom, her older mother and her one young daughter). We made small talk with them before and during the parade. As many know, to young children, Mardi-Gras throws mean a lot. Mid parade I look over at my daughters haul and compared it to the black family next to me. There's was at least 4 to 5 times more beads, cups, trinkets, etc... in the black child's bag when compared to my child's bag. So I began to take notice of the floats and throws per rider. It was obvious to me that the black riders were throwing items to the black guests much more than to the white guests. Many times pointing at the black child while looking at my daughter as if to say "this isn't for you, it's for her". Then the Pandora parade began and I kept notice. The white riders seemed as though they were more interested in being fair - in other words, if my daughter caught something and the other child seemed upset, the rider would make sure the other girl got something also. It was as if they were making sure BOTH girls were having a good time. When comparing both parades, it felt like the black riders made it a point to NOT throw goodies to the white child. This was my observation. Another observation was the black female dance/cheerleader groups. Too many times did I see vulgar type, booty-poppin', bounce twerk style dancing set to vulgar music. Not something that should be done during a family type atmosphere. Also, the amount of foul-language being used by those around us including adults cursing around not only their own kids, but mine. My polite requests to stop using profanity seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Fat Tuesday - Mardi Gras Day:
Went uptown to catch the Rex parade. Got there early and also got to see the Zulu parade. Again, a black family next to us. I've lived in the area my entire life and never, ever once caught a Zulu coconut. For those aware, Zulu coconuts are highly coveted. Anyway - almost every float that went by, my daughter was on my shoulders. At least once a float, I tried to make eye contact with a rider and very nicely ask for a coconut even a few times pointing out I've never caught one. NOT ONE coconut was given to me, my daughter or my wife. So after the parade I'm looking over to the black family and I see the mother counting the coconuts she and her family caught. She counted out 6. Again, 6 coconuts to the family no more than 2 feet from us the entire time. Draw your own conclusions from this.
I've learned two things from these experiences: ONE - Metairie during Mardi Gras is turning into a shit-hole. TWO - I will refrain from going to "black" parades in the future not because of my perception, but because I want my daughter to think that ALL people are genuinely good for as long as possible. Perhaps Covington parades are better suited for families with good morals and ethics.
-Rob
